At Kuss Middle School, officials say aim is to promote 'en environment of safety' from bullying

Saturday

Feb 15, 2014 at 8:19 PMFeb 15, 2014 at 8:23 PM

Michael Gagne Herald News Staff Reporter @HNMikeGagne

FALL RIVER — Over the past few years, schools in the public school district have been tracking bullying allegations — from when they are reported and investigated, to when findings are made.

Each school has a designated person tasked with investigating bullying allegations. Districtwide during the 2012-13 school year, those coordinators reported that of those allegations, 131 were determined to be actual bullying incidents.

So far, from September 2013 to mid-January, coordinators have reported 47 bullying incidents. Those findings came out of 237 bullying allegations made, 216 of which were investigated.

At Matthew J. Kuss Middle School, 109 allegations have been made and investigated. Two of those have been found to be bullying cases. The numbers may appear disproportionate. Kuss's bullying coordinator Cathy Montle, who also serves as a guidance counselor, along with wellness coordinator Harry Potter and Vice Principal Matthew Silva, explained the process and how it led to those results.

Part of it is because Kuss has built a culture where students trust adults, they said. The other part is because students often misunderstand the difference between a conflict and bullying. A conflict can be a single incident, sometimes among friends, whereas bullying is ongoing, and usually involves an imbalance of power between victims and perpetrators.

"I'm the contact person," Montle said. "More often than not, it's conflict. We help students to understand the difference."

Montle outlined the bullying reporting process at Kuss. In some cases, students go directly to her, reporting a conflict or potential bullying. In other cases they tell their teacher, who in turn reports to Montle.

Montle then fact-finds, getting statements from the students involved.

"If the word 'bullying' was used, we would have to inform the parent," Montle said. "Usually, it ends right here with a conversation in our office."

If a similar complaint occurs later, there is an additional procedure. The matter goes from the bullying coordinator and the wellness coordinator to the vice principal, who may determine detention or Saturday school is necessary.

"If it happens a third time, that child can actually be placed on a monitoring plan," Potter explained. "Then the parents are called in."

The student, parent and school staff discuss "the sort of behaviors that have to happen for the child to correct their behavior."

"We're checking in all the time, two check-ins a week," Potter said.

If, during the monitoring period, "there aren't any more infractions, that child is removed from monitoring," Potter said.

For the victim, measures can be taken in the form of a safety plan to ensure that there is no contact with the perpetrator.

"But the onus is on the bullier to stop," Potter said. "There are teachers involved, monitoring involved. It's been pretty effective."

Kuss has fostered a culture where students are comfortable coming to adults, Potter, Montle and Silva said.

When asked about his impression of the impact of the state law on bullying since it has been enacted, Potter replied, "More faculty members, parents and kids are aware of a process, because of a pressure out in the community.

"Specifically here we have become very conscious about it," Potter said. "Everybody is on board. I'm glad it's happening. If it's not bullying, it's a conflict, which means people need to learn how to co-exist."

Teaching students how to resolve conflicts, including teasing, is a life skill, Potter said. "There are conflicts you have in life you have because you are human beings, and you have to have the right skills. If you don't, you become a target.

"From grade 6 to 8, it's how do you deal with your peers."

Despite having a school population of about 780 students, Potter said adults know the students in their building very well. Students don't always report possible bullying or other issues, but there are adults whose role is to pick up on cues when things are not going well for those students.

"That's our life," Potter said. "It's why we have interventionists, wellness teams. We spend a lot of time looking for those behaviors. There's people in this place whose sole work is to identify those kids. We are all looking for that... We know when it's not well."

In addition to tracking allegations and determining which bullying allegations at Kuss and at other schools are actual bullying incidents, the district has also taken measures to prevent bullying in the classroom.

Bullying prevention and conflict resolution are part of the curriculum. In some schools, it's part of the health curriculum. In others, it's a unit in the social studies curriculum, according to Superintendent Meg Mayo-Brown.

"The emphasis is clearly on prevention and intervention, with prevention in capital letters. That's the goal," Mayo-Brown said.

Kuss has a new enrichment class on bullying.

Silva said cyber-bullying is one of the biggest issues among administrators at Kuss.

As early adopters of social media, students can also find sites that "foster bullying," Silva said. "There always seems to be a new one on a weekly basis."

Silva referenced Ask.fm, a relatively new site that allows users to post questions anonymously to a user's page.

"We've tried to get parents on board," Silva said. "Somebody can post a question on a kid's website. Because it's anonymous, you can't tell who's putting it on it. And then they may think they have an idea of whose putting it on it. It kind of becomes tedious. We try to stay on top of it."

"A lot of it comes down to the culture of the school," said Silva, who has been an administrator at Kuss for the past two years. "It's on us to create an environment of safety where it's fun to learn. If a kid feels safe, they're happy to be here.